I'm really not sure how I feel about this chapter. I both do & don't like it. Well, I hope you guys do. Enjoy. -Megan
Skye ran. She didn't know where she was going, but she knew she had to get away from that room. She ran down a hallway, ducking into a room when she heard footsteps. She hid behind a wall, index finger poised on the barrel of her gun. She waited, barely breathing, until the footsteps had passed. She slid down the wall, letting out a breath of relief. Okay, Skye. She said to herself. What now? She had to get out of here, get back to S.H.I.E.L.D.. A gunshot erupted in the next room, sending her bolting up to her feet. S.H.I.E.L.D. She checked the hallway before stepping out into it, weapon poised & ready. She walked into the room, dread settling in her stomach at the sight that welcomed her. Her father leaned over Coulson, throwing punch after punch.
"Stop it! Stop it or I'll shoot!" She yelled. "Dad!" He stopped then, looking at her like he was embarrassed, like he had been caught eating the last piece of chocolate cake, rather than beating a man. "He took something from me." He said.
"No, he saved you from killing more people. Now get up and leave." She said, battling the horror of the situation. This was her father. This was one of the people she had been searching her entire life for. Fate could really be a bitch sometimes.
"You have to finish what we started." He said, backing towards the door."
"No," She shook her head. "I don't. I'm not going down there. I'm not going to change or transform or whatever the hell you think is going to happen."
"Why can't you see that it's a good thing?" He asked, clearly frustrated with her.
"Maybe it's because of all the dead bodies lying around or the fact that Hydra wants it. I'm going to make sure the Obelisk never gets down into that city. And you're going to leave. This is your one chance to walk away, or I will kill you." She threatened.
"Okay. I'll go, but I'll be waiting for you. After you change, no one else will understand. They'll be afraid–change is terrifying. But I'm your father, and I love you. I will always love you, Daisy." He vowed, and with that he turned and went towards the door. She watched him walk out of the room, not dropping her gun until she was sure he was gone. Tears welled up in her eyes, as she went to Coulson, shaking her head. "I'm so sorry." She said, placing her hand over her mouth to muffle a sob. "I wanted to kill him, and I couldn't. I just couldn't." Tears burned a path up her throat, and she tried desperately to push them down. "I'm so sorry." She couldn't do it, and she hated that. He was an awful man, had taken countless lives, but he was still her father. And no matter how much she may want to, she just couldn't bring herself to kill him. She just couldn't. But there was something she could do.
"I'm going to make it right." She promised.
"No." Coulson protested.
"I'm going to find the Obelisk. I'm going to stop the drill, I'm going to make it right." She grabbed her gun.
"No, Skye. No, Skye, don't go down there!" He yelled after her, but she was already running into the hallway. "Skye?" Wards voice said somewhere behind her, but she didn't stop. If anything, she ran faster. "No." He said, seeming to realize her destination. "Skye, don't do it. Don't go down there!" She heard his footsteps speed up as he ran after her, but she just picked up her pace even more. She ran until she made it down the tunnel & into the city. She navigated through the tall columns, raising her gun & keeping a steady grip on it. She made it to the center of the city, and everything was instantly brighter, as if it had it's own light source. She dropped the green light she'd grabbed before she'd gone into the tunnel. Placing both hands on her gun, she advanced to the woman in the center of the room. "I knew you'd come." Raina said.
"Someone has to stop you." Skye replied, proud at how calm her voice sounded despite the thundering heartbeat in her chest. "You're whole life – our whole lives – have been leading to this moment." Raina said.
"Sorry," Skye said, keeping her gun trained on the other girl as they both slowly circled around the podium in the center of the formation. "I don't buy into this whole 'this is your destiny' thing. We're taking the Obelisk & we're leaving. There are too many lives at stake."
"You've got it all wrong. Whitehall, everyone, has got it all wrong. This doesn't destroy," Raina gestured to the Obelisk. "It gives life, new life. We finally get to find out what we become."
Suddenly the Obelisk started glowing, orange patterns appearing on it's surface.
"Make it stop!" Skye ordered.
Raina laughed, grinning. "I can't." The Obelisk, of it's own accord, lifted from her hand and settled onto the podium. "Neither of us can, now."
Skye lowered her gun to her side, her breathing picking up as a sense of dread settled over her. Something big was about to happen, and she had no idea how to stop it. The columns around them started shifting together, closing in on the two women. Skye looked around for an exit. "If you want to leave, now's your chance." Raina said, still smiling. "I gotta admit, I'm just the tiniest bit nervous." Skye tried to move, but it felt like her feet were grounded to the spot she was standing. The columns made a loud grinding sound as they locked together. Footsteps sounded, and a split second before the last column closed, a man slipped in. "Ward." Skye whispered. The columns closed, trapping the three in. "What is this?" Ward looked around. "Skye?"
"What are you doing here?" She asked him.
"I was trying to stop you from coming in here." He said as he slowly made his way over to her. She didn't step away from him or threaten him or any of the things she normally would do. Instead, she said nothing. Truth was, she was scared. And having him by her side, as twisted as it was, helped. They stood there, waiting, anticipating. And then, the Obelisk opened. Skye watched in fascination as it's sides bloomed out like the petals of a flower, revealing a set of blue crystals unlike any she'd ever seen before, hidden inside. "What's happening?" Ward asked.
"Something beautiful." Raina replied.
A wind so strong it knocked all three 0f them backwards blew through the room, releasing a bluish mist. Skye walked toward the Obelisk, looking down at it. Was that it? She wondered. Seemed like a lot of trouble for something so – a tickling sensation started on her right arm, quickly intensifying into a large sense of pressure. She looked down at her arm to find a muddy brown substance sliding up her arm, covering it. She dropped her gun, looking down as it rapidly spread across her body. "Oh god."
It continued, and her heart pounded. "Oh my god. No." It slithered across her collar bone, up her neck. "Ward!" She desperately called out.
"Skye?" He called back, but she couldn't see him as the substance covered her face and her head, completely encasing her body. This couldn't be how she died. After surviving being shot by Quinn, the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D, being abducted by Ward on more than one occasion, falling out of a freaking plane, battling Deathlok...this couldn't be how she went down. Her heart sped up, faster than she'd ever felt it beat, so fast that she could swear she was actually dying. A vibration started, soft first, at the tips of her fingers. It got stronger as it spread up her arms and across her torso. Part of the cocoon – or whatever it was – chipped off, and light lit up one of her eyelids. She blinked it open as another part fell off, allowing her to see out of both eyes. It continued to fall as quickly as it had come, crumbling off her fingertips, her arm, her back, her shoulder. The vibration continued to strengthen, growing so strong she couldn't even breath. It was all she could think about. It was like a sense of power, trying to claw it's way out of her. She closed her fists, grinding down on her teeth. And as if she had been doing it her whole life, she pushed the power outwards. The cocoon exploded, flying away from her and smacking into the walls. The world around her shook violently, and she could feel the vibrations all the way through her bones. She couldn't see anything past the dust & falling rubble. The building groaned, and one the walls started collapsing, breaking in half and falling to the ground. Skye whipped around, but not quickly enough, as one of the walls fell toward her. It fell on her, trapping her from the hips down. The force of the fall cracked her head against the floor. Her whole body shook from the force of the vibrations, and horror fell over her as the realization hit. She was doing this. She felt blood slowly leak from her nose as the world around her blurred in and out, as it had when she had been shot. She tried to fight it, knowing she had to get out of there, but soon the world faded away, and she went with it.